{"id":4200,"date":"2019-01-12T13:29:19","date_gmt":"2019-01-12T18:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/?p=4200"},"modified":"2019-01-12T13:30:11","modified_gmt":"2019-01-12T18:30:11","slug":"electric-cars-will-not-save-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alexblock.net\/blog\/2019\/01\/12\/electric-cars-will-not-save-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Electric cars will not save us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In addition to lots of twitter arguments about the Green New Deal<\/a>, my feed has also been full of arguments about the relative role for electric cars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I get the appeal of electric cars: it’s hard to envision any scenario where we address climate change without relying on electrification of our vehicle fleet. It’s a technology that has lots of promise. These cars appeal to our desires for innovation, yet still recall previous moments of national pride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that said, the simple math on emissions remains clear: electric cars alone won’t solve our surface transportation GHG problems. We have to drive less. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of articles in recent months have tried to emphasize this point, but they don’t often seem to break through. I’d like to highlight this one from Meredith Hankins<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…when we\u2019re all driving zero-emission vehicles that plug into a zero-carbon grid, our transportation emissions will indeed be extremely low carbon. But here\u2019s the thing: that future is a long<\/strong> way off. California\u2019s ZEV mandate<\/a> calls for only about 8% of new vehicle purchases to be ZEVs by 2025\u2013and that\u2019s just new<\/em> vehicles. The average car sold today will be on the road for at least 11 years<\/a>, locking in a decade plus of GHG emissions for every non-ZEV sold. In addition to our long-term electrification plans, we have to focus on strategies to reduce emissions from those non-ZEVs in the near term by getting them off the road.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The basic facts about cars (regardless of their power source) haven’t changed. They’re remarkably large and inefficient vehicles. They take up large spaces and require lots of energy to move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Bringing U.S. per-capita transport energy use down to that of the next-highest country (AUS) would cut consumption by nearly 20%. Bringing it down to the level of most W. European countries would cut it by ~40%. It's not like this is impossible. pic.twitter.com\/7SlmXRQdM1<\/a><\/p>— Tony Dutzik (@FrontierTony) January 7, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote>